Three new stumbling blocks in Stendal: Memory of the Jewish victims

Three new stumbling blocks in Stendal: Memory of the Jewish victims

Today, November 10, 2025, a significant memorial event took place in Stendal to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. Members of the Stendal history workshop have laid three new stumbling blocks at Breite Straße 50. These small but impressive monuments are more than just concrete cubes; They bear the names and dates of life of people who suffered and were murdered under the National Socialist regime. In this way, Hedwig and Adolf Salomon as well as Sally Blumenthal are remembered and their stories are kept alive.

The Stolpersteine, a project initiated by the artist Gunter Demnig in 1992, are symbolic memorial stones that commemorate the last place of residence, work or study of the persecuted. As of June 2023, over 100,000 of these stones have already been laid, making it the largest decentralized monument in the world. Your form of memory is unique; They are embedded in the sidewalks and invite passers-by to reflect on the fates of the people they lived. According to Wikipedia's information page, the Stolpersteine ​​are intended especially for Jewish Holocaust victims, but also for Sinti, Roma, homosexuals and other persecuted groups, thereby sending an important signal against forgetting.

Stories of Hedwig and Adolf Salomon

Behind the stumbling blocks are moving biographies. Adolf Salomon was born on April 8, 1860 in Stendal, coming from a respected merchant family. He worked as a businessman and insurance agent and married Hedwig Loewe in 1888, who was born in Pasewalk in 1865. Together they ran a flourishing leather goods store from 1898 to 1936 and later a paper goods store on Breite Straße. The couple had two children before moving to Berlin.

The dark clouds of history overtook the family: in 1942 they were deported to Theresienstadt on a senior transport. While Adolf Salomon died of pneumonia on June 17, 1942, according to the obituary, his wife Hedwig was deported to the Treblinka concentration camp on her birthday and murdered there. Both stories illustrate the brutality of Nazi persecution and the fragility of human life.

Remembering Sally Blumenthal

Also living on Breite Straße was Sally Blumenthal, who was deported to Buchenwald at the age of 67 on the night of November 10, 1938 during Kristallnacht. His life ended after just two weeks in this camp, and his death certificate states that he died on November 23rd, supposedly from meningitis. Blumenthal was a trader in intestines and leather and represents the multitude of fates that were lost during this dark time.

The history workshop hopes that pictures of these victims will be found in the future to give them a face. Through this work, the fates of these people are brought back to life to some extent and the commemoration becomes a communal affair for the city residents.

Following the laying of the stumbling block, a matinee took place in the Johanniter Hospital in which the memories were shared and honored. The history workshop is already planning to lay more stumbling blocks in Stendal next year in order to continue the commemoration and strengthen the city's collective memory. As in many other cities, an important task is to preserve worries and fears so that history does not repeat itself.